2017 was a landmark year for us at AWE. We completed a year-long process of negotiating, creating legal frameworks, and strategic planning to lay the groundwork for the California Water Efficiency Partnership to become the Alliance for Water Efficiency’s first-ever state chapter. There is great synergy in the work of both organizations, and we will be stronger by having an explicit and cooperative platform for working together.
Our Work
The Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) partners with our members and other organizations to produce the research, tools, resources, and information they need to advance water efficiency in their communities. Our work has helped water professionals seize new opportunities, uncover challenges, and break down barriers to achieve sustainable water use. To get involved and help define the work we do, join the AWE network today.
2017
The Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) and the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) have released a five-year update to the 2012 Water Efficiency and Conservation State Scorecard: An Assessment of Laws and Policies. As with the 2012 State Scorecard, the 2017 update reviewed, scored, graded states for laws supporting water conservation and efficiency. In addition, the 2017 report added a new component for climate resiliency planning and performed a parallel evaluation, scoring, and grading process.
The Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) has prepared a position paper titled, Transforming Water: Water Efficiency as Infrastructure Investment. The paper quantitatively examines the short-term economic growth impacts of water efficiency investments, specifically in terms of job creation, income, GDP, national output, water savings, and other benefits. For example:
If you read the economic projections from the Dallas Fed or the Annual Economic Outlook from Texas A&M, the focus will be on the energy sector rebound from low oil prices, and manufacturing jobs, and housing starts. But water is behind all of those jobs — whether for oil exploration and production, steam electric generation or cooling for manufacturing, or the growing appetite for water in new homes and neighborhoods. And how much water Texas has — and will continue to have — shapes our economic growth.
The Alliance for Water Efficiency’s (AWE) Water: What You Pay For video is an animated video that seeks to communicate the value of water service, by explaining why safe drinking water has a cost.
This short video explains the least customers should know about the water that they not only love, but need to survive! It describes the water service a typical residential water bill covers, and the costs of delivering a consistent, reliable flow of safe and affordable drinking water to faucets.
Water conservation has helped keep water rates lower in two U.S. communities, according to new research released by the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE).
AWE’s Commercial Kitchens Water Use Efficiency and Best Practices Guide will help improve water efficiency in commercial kitchen operations. Unlike other commercial efficiency resources which are designed for planners and utility staff, this guide is specifically designed for members of the commercial kitchens, food service, and hospitality industries. It covers day-to-day best practices, case study summaries, and strategies for efficient management of the most common high-use equipment.
Associated with Single-Family Package Graywater Systems
Planners, designers, decision makers, and researchers currently lack the information necessary to determine if graywater reuse systems are viable, safe, and provide cost-effective potable water savings. At the same time, these professionals and other stakeholders are increasingly under pressure to promote and/or incentivize the use of single-family packaged graywater reuse systems.
2016
A Water Loss or Non-Revenue Water Policy Template for Local Adoption.
2015
A research report assessing the impacts of increasing water-use efficiency on demand hardening. Funded by a number of water utilities and The Walton Family Foundation, the report discusses whether consumer demand can be “hardened” by the continued pressure of demand management programs. The report was prepared by Anil Bamezai, PhD, of Western Policy Research under the direction of the Alliance for Water Efficiency and a project committee composed of water utilities that provided data for analysis.
Description of the Project
2014
A white paper examining market-based strategies, such as derivatives and insurance, which are available to water managers and can be applied to help them mitigate the revenue risks associated with unpredictable weather.
2013
An article that presents an analysis of water use trends and avoided costs.
There is a commonly held belief in the water industry that declining per capita usage due to water conservation is forcing rate increases to compensate for fewer units of volume billed. But the rate increases necessitated by conservation are actually much smaller than the rate increases that would be necessary to account for population growth in the absence of conservation.
Never Waste is a national campaign from the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) that aims to raise awareness about the amount of water we waste in our daily lives and encourage consumers to take action to reduce water waste.
The campaign quantifies the amount of water wasted by comparing it to an everyday object – a water bottle – and encourages consumers to take simple steps to eliminate their water waste. Water supplies in the United States are increasingly under pressure from a growing population, with more than 36 states facing shortages this year.
2012
The Alliance for Water Efficiency, with funding from the Great Lakes Protection Fund, assessed five representative industries within the Great Lakes watershed that are supplied with treated drinking water and that discharge to a local wastewater utility. The assessments that were conducted focused on four factors:
In August 2012, the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) and The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread co-hosted a summit with water utility managers, rate experts, price regulators, economists, and advocacy groups to explore the issues surrounding declining water sales, utility revenue losses, and the impact on conservation programs. Prior to the summit, a white paper was developed to frame the discussion. Following the summit, the white paper was finalized with comments from the participants.
The Problem
2011
The Colorado River basin presents the greatest water management challenges of any river basin in the nation, with ever-expanding demands for multiple water uses, water demand exceeding supply, valued but fragile ecosystems, and support for nearly every type of water-relevant interest. The importance of instream flows–the amount of water flowing in a stream or river– is more pressing than ever, but in many parts of the basin, all water is spoken for.